Campus History

"There's a lot to be said for old college traditions...but much more exciting is the prospect of being among the first, the tradition-makers, the pioneers."

- Admiral Richard L. Conolly, first president of LIU Post, from 1954 college recruitment brochure

The year was 1955 and 121 students decided to take an educational gamble of a lifetime by enrolling at a new college that had no accredited degree programs, held classes in converted barns, garages and servants' bedrooms, had no sports teams or traditions. Long Island University purchased the 177-acre Gold Coast estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post Cereal fortune, for $200,000 to establish a small liberal arts college in Nassau County. The University's Board of Trustees named the college for Marjorie's father, the great American breakfast cereal inventor Charles William Post. Since its inception, LIU Post has grown exponentially to include 260 degree programs, six schools of study, 8,700 students, and more than 320 faculty members. The Campus covers 307 acres and comprises 47 buildings, 10 residence halls and three historic mansions.